Friedman's Delicatessen
Chelsea Market
75 Ninth Ave
New York, NY 10011
(212) 929-7100
Is it just me or when you have a gluten-free sandwich does it taste better than you remember sandwiches used to taste? I think I used to take the everyday sandwich for granted. Now when I eat a decent gluten-free sandwich I thoroughly enjoy it. Well, how much better do you think a gluten-free sandwich will taste when you can eat it at an old school style New York deli?!
This is the Chef Salad for $13.95. You can select whatever meat will satisfy your inner carnivore.
In the 1960's there were approximately 300 kosher-style delicatessens in New York City. Since then many of these establishments have closed. Friedman's has announced the opening of their new deli, which is reminiscent of New York City's oldest, and most recognized traditional kosher style delis, except the gluten-free items on the menu give the delicatessen a modern twist. With more people discovering they have food intolerances the owners of Friedman's felt it was important to include safe gluten-free options on their menu. The menu consists of mouth-watering staples of the delicatessen era, such as chicken rice soup and corned beef sandwiches. Friedman's is offering the real deal-high quality, old school kosher style items, which also includes brisket and homemade potato salad!
Sink your teeth into this pastrami sandwich made with bread from The Grainless Baker.
There isn't an actual gluten-free menu here, but all sandwiches can be made with gluten-free "rye" bread. Customers can rest assured that both the tuna salad and the chicken salad are gluten-free too. Most of the sides are gluten-free as well. There will be a chart behind the counter which will clearly label all of each menu items ingredients to make ordering easy for both the patrons and deli counter workers.
As if this all isn't enough good news, they are also working on a breakfast and brunch menu that will include lots of gluten-free options too. And since you can't eat a really good authentic deli sandwich without a really good authentic pickle, they will be making their own pickles! (These will be brined pickles, which equals corn-free!)* Keeping with the theme of the Chelsea Market, where there is a huge wholesale component, the pickles will be sold wholesale in the front of the store. This helps to contribute to the authenticity of what Friedman's is all about.
Vanessa Phillips has helped Friedman's with their menu and will be there for several weeks to help the staff get the gluten-free routine down. This is not going to be a GFRAP restaurant because other than most ingredients being naturally gluten-free, they are just switching your orders to gluten-free bread and taking common sense precautions. The bread will be toasted on a separate plate and all sandwiches will be cut with a color coded designated knife. None of the gluten-free sandwiches will be cut directly on the cutting board, but instead they will be placed on a piece of tin foil and then cut.
All of the gluten-free sandwiches are an extra $1.50. A regular turkey sandwich is $9.95, so the gluten-free turkey will be $11.45 and the gluten-free pastrami is $12.45. Before you gasp at those prices check out the sizes of these sandwiches! They are HUGE! Those of you with dainty appetites can order half a sandwich with soup or salad for $12.95.
Excuse me, but I have to go get another pastrami sandwich!
*For those of you with additional food allergies-the bread does contain both corn and dairy. However, if you bring in your own bread they can totally make a sandwich for you without a problem. All the meat is corn and gluten-free, however, deli meats do contain soy. For those with soy allergies or for those who don't want deli meat there is a tasty rotisserie chicken.
